About 45 people attended the monthly Dutch Lunch held the last Wednesday of each month at Bella Italia and were treated to a performance by the East Orange Silver Steppers.
The monthly event at Bella Italia on Central Avenue in Orange is organized by long-time Orange resident Shirley Hendricks, who pointed out that many of the elegantly dressed women at the event were high school classmates while others she met while in the Brownies.
“A lady asked me what’s the name of this group and I said I don’t know it’s just in my head,” Hendricks said. “There’s 365 days in the year and I’ll do my best for you on 12 of them.”
Coming at the end of May, the latest get together had a Mother’s Day theme with the Silver Steppers performing and a presentation by a yoga/health instructor Jocelyn Taylor.
Taylor, who owns Holistic Luxury Living with Jocelyn, talked about building strength in a healthy way, stressing that there are ways for older people to improve their strength and stay fit in a careful and safe manner.
In introducing the Silver Steppers, Hendricks mentioned that her family moved from Boston to East Orange in 1947 and that she later settled with her husband in Orange.
Silver Stepper Fannie Harrison, who is 92, talked to the group briefly about the history of the dance team. She said she and a few other ladies were exercising in the senior center in East Orange and the director approached them about his vision for a dance squad.
“We could follow instructions so we formed a group,” Harrison said, adding that was in 2007.
“When we organized we didn’t want to just be performers, we wanted to inspire people,” Harrison said. Knitting and crocheting are fine but people should get up and exercise, she said.
The women who originally formed the group were roughly between 60 and 70 years old, now the age range is 65 to 92. The group performs at nursing homes, hospitals and at various events, including a recent performance at Essex County College where the audience included Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
“We’re thankful the Lord let us live long enough to go around and inspire people,” Harrison said.
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